The Hustle Movie Review

Rebel Wilson & Anne Hathaway (r) star in The Hustle

Sisters in Arms

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway have winning chemistry as a pair of con artists plying their trade in a stunning seaside town in the south of France. Josephine Chesterfield (Hathaway) is a glamorous, seductive Brit with a sprawling home in Beaumont-sur-Mer and a penchant for defrauding gullible wealthy men from all corners of the world. Into her well-ordered, meticulously moneyed world bursts Penny Rust (Wilson), an Aussie who is as free-form and fun-loving as Josephine is calculated and cunning. Where Penny amasses wads of cash by ripping off her marks in neighborhood bars, Josephine fills her safe with massive diamonds after ensnaring her prey in glitzy casinos. Despite their different methods, both are masters of the art of the fleece so they con the men that have wronged women. Wilson's talent for physicality and Hathaway's withering wit are a combustible combination as the pair of scammers pull out all the stops to swindle a naïve tech billionaire (Alex Sharp.) Directed by Chris Addison.

Josephine declares, "This isn't a likability contest." True that. Hathaway and Wilson are funny on their own, but share zero chemistry in Addison's The Hustle, a poor man's woman's version of the far superior 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Thank screenwriter Jac Schaeffer (Captain Marvel) for one of the laziest, most uninspired remakes in recent memory. Hathaway gets to play dress up, and pontificate in various bad accents, while Wilson barrels around in ill-fitting garb, amidst a myriad of all-too-familiar one-liners and raunchy scenarios. Short on laughs (although Rebel earns a few) and originality, and unworthy of your time.

Grade: D